Fighting
by rainingWolf
Summary: "In a fight between you and the world, pick the world." She never looked for a fight; the fighting always came to her. Katara-centre. Oneshot


**Title: **Fighting  
**Character(s): **Katara, Zuko, Aang  
**Pairing(s): **No paring really. Slight Zutara if you squint or Kataang if you squint even harder.  
**Summary: "**In a fight between you and the world, pick the world." She never looked for a fight; the fighting always came to her. Katara-centre. Oneshot.  
**Warning(s): **None  
**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. If I did, Katara and Zuko would have been together and Aang would have been forever alone. But I don't own anything. I am a poor college student.

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Fighting. She had always abhorred it, sulking at the edge of the compound when Sokka had banded together the 'men' of the village when her dad and the real warriors had left to fight in the war.

After another failed attempt to show Katara how to throw a boomerang correctly without hitting anybody in the head, Sokka had sighed exasperatedly.

"You need to learn how to defend yourself Katara, even if just a little! What if the Fire Nation shows up on our very own doorsteps right this moment? I can't always be around to protect you." Katara had scoffed at that, being the age of 12 at the time, not seeing the insight her brother had when he had said that with a strained look on his 14 year old face.

"I don't want to," she had shouted back, face red. This was the fifth time Sokka had tried to teach her how to kill 'enemy soldiers.' It has been all fun and games the first time until Sokka had hit his club against her leg when she was too slow to dodge the blow and blood had trickled downwards to hit the blinding white snow, sprinkling the white landscape with droplets of red.

It had hurt a lot and Gran-Gran had to stitch it up afterwards, leaving a tiny scar line on the back of her left knee. Sokka had been horrified at first, being the cause of the incident, and he had wallowed in self-pity and shame far away from home for a few days after being reprimanded harshly by Gran-Gran in front of the village about his carelessness.

Several days later, he had come back with renewed determination to teach Katara about the art of war albeit on a smaller scale. Standing tall and holding out a fishing spear to her, he had said in a voice that cracked that she should at least learn how to spear a fish so they could have decent meat for dinner.

After that, the lessons continued at a slow pace and sputtered to a stop when Katara, fed up one day at never getting a fish despite Sokka's encouragements, put up both hands and had shakily formed a water bubble around two fish, lifting it into the air and into the boat. After the display of her powers, Sokka seemed to have deflated and spent many hours away from home, honing his amateur skills alone.

That was the end of the lessons and the start of Sokka's annoyance at her 'magic water'.

The day they had found Aang was one of the few times that Sokka had asked her to accompany him after what she had dubbed 'the incident.'

And so, Katara was never fond of fighting. It was the first real rift that caused the disintegration of her and her brother's relationship, changing it from a close one to one of friendly hostile banters that would leave one or both hurt or in tears. Their sibling bond was only rekindled when Katara was captured by Zuko and his band of pirates early in their journey.

The look on her brother's face when Aang and he finally found Katara unharmed, if not a bit tired, was such a look of relief, of such joy, that she had felt tears welling up in her eyes. Sokka had given her a huge bear hug, this one simple gesture giving away his feelings and his love, so intense that Aang averted his eyes as if he had intruded on something private.

But as time went on and she finally reached the Northern Water Tribe, a light seemed to appear before her, making her realize that resistance was futile. She didn't need to like it, she didn't need to love it, but fighting was necessary in her life. It helped her, protected her, made her feel strong and powerful when she had shot circular ice discs towards Master Pakku who had twisted away gracefully before launching his own attack. She had lost the battle that day, encased in pillars of ice, but she knew she had respect and honour when Master Pakku had conceded that she was a worthy Waterbender, even if she was a girl.

That's when her position on fighting changed. It niggled at the back of her mind until it grew and consumed her and she had practiced day and night, working on the techniques Master Pakku had taught her until she felt her muscles ache and she would collapse in her bed, sore but satisfied.

And then _he _came, with his blazing fists and fiery anger that threatened to tear down everything she loved. The banished prince, her enemy ever since he appeared with his regal armour and black soot that blotted out all things pure and white.

And in that sacred area, the oasis in the North Pole, when Aang was in the Spirit World, communing with the Moon and Ocean spirits, Katara embraced it.

Fighting wasn't just something horrid, something that could bring hurt to her and the people she love. Instead, it had evolved into a power that she could use to protect.

The realization came to her when Zuko had pumped two fireballs towards Aang and she had dove in front and wove water from the pond towards the prince, the water solidifying into piercing ice points which he deflected with a flaming fist.

The two of them had _danced- _Fire and water clashing against each other as they both twisted and twirled for dominance.

And before her head collided with the rock, rendering her unconscious, her last view was of Aang and her last thought was that if she had to fight, had to dirty her hands, to defend the ones she cherished, then so be it.

The world is a fine place and worth fighting for after all, isn't it?

* * *

Wanted to show the transition on how Katara views fighting. Hope I conveyed it properly.

Reviews are much appreciated.


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